1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image accumulation device and an image accumulation method, and in particular to an image accumulation device and an image accumulation method that accumulate images of specific locations, such as stations on transportation lines like railway lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, technology has been proposed where, using images shot with a digital camera to which a Global Positioning System (GPS) device is connected, desired map data are read, on the basis of GPS information such as position information and time information obtained by the GPS device, from a storage medium storing map data, an electronic map including the shot locations of the shot images is displayed on a monitor, and the shot images are efficiently categorized (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication (JP-A) No. 10-233985).
Also, JP-A No. 2002-29422 discloses a measurement data processing device for the maintenance of railway lines. With this device, technology has been proposed where a railway line map is displayed, a measurement point included in a region designated by a pointing device or cursor is determined on the railway line map, and a transportation line zone map and measurement data corresponding to the determined measurement point are displayed.
Railway companies providing daily transportation to people have come to release, to people living in railway areas and new cities developed together with the growth of transportation facilities, photographs recording/preserving the changing aspects of scenery around stations of those railways from the past to the present, in order to promote business services offered by business entities or with the aim or promoting local revitalization by publicizing, to the outside, the distinctive characteristics of those railway areas and cities. In this manner, by releasing such photographs to local inhabitants without confuting the photographs to creating a history of the railway companies, it is possible to encourage the local inhabitants to have a feeling of identity with those areas, and therefore to have a feeling of attachment to their home. For this reason, image accumulation devices that can be used for various purposes, such as accumulating images of stations on railway lines shot from the past to the present and displaying the accumulated image amounts of each station according to era, are expected. By using such an image accumulation device to collectively manage the images shot from the past to the present, it becomes possible for railway companies to use the images, for example, to create local histories of the railway lines, compile a company history, or use the images in events such as events celebrating the anniversary of the development of a new city.
However, the technology disclosed in JP-A No. 10-233985 displays thumbnail images at the positions of the shot locations of the images, and the technology disclosed in JP-A No. 2002-29422 displays measurement data of measurement points on transportation lines. Neither technology can be used for purposes such as displaying images of areas around stations on railway lines according to era or displaying the accumulated image amounts thereof.